I thought I would write this mostly to help others without experience decide if they want to take on Snorkel repairs. I spent a number of hours doing my first ones over the last two days. I should mention that I am not particularly skilled with my hands and I'm not an engineer, and that can make a big difference. When I have a plumbing problem, I call the plumber. However, since I had the time (I am between jobs) and I love fountain pens, including now Snorkels, I thought I'd give it a try.

For details on repairing Snorkels, you can find numerous posts on this and the Sheaffer forum. I will just address the challenges I had.

1. Those sections are tough to get out. I used Richard Binder's trick of forcing a rod cut from a coat hanger to force up through the bottom of the sac protector. Once, it popped out but the snorkel tube also came out. It was not a problem to set it back in at the proper depth (1.5" exposed) since I could compare it to others I had. However, in coming out, a small part of the breather tube (1/16") came out of the top of the snorkel tube. I tried to get it back in, but finally broke it off accidentally. In the end, it didn't seem to affect the performance, fortunately.

Another two times, I was able to force the section out, but the top (nib) end of the sac protector lost its shape a little, and it was hard to crimp it back to shape. It was trial and error (mostly error), but I finally got it back to shape with small needle nosed pliers (thanks, OldGriz).

A fourth time, I made a fatal error. I was trying to force the section out and I gripped the sac protector with section pliers to hold it because a lot of force was needed. Don't do this! I crimped the sac protector and I ruined it.

2. Those #$%#@ O-rings! I had the worst time getting the old ones out and almost as bad a time getting the new ones in. If anyone has any great tips on this, I would love to hear it. OldGriz says "experience and practice." I want a silver bullet!

3. Sometimes the sac remnants are a bear to get out. I had no idea they attained a hardness approaching steel! You definitely need some type of dental pick or equivalent. Sometimes, I would swear looking down the barrel that it was clean, but the new sac just would't go in. Then I would heat it up in hot water and scrap some more, and expose a new layer of old sac. Not all the snorkels had hardened sacs, however. In my small unscientific sample; the Touchdowns seemed worse.

4. You never know for sure what you're going to get (or not get) when you buy a Snorkel on Ebay that isn't from a reputable pen merchant. I guess that's why they're so cheap. I paid $10-20 for the ones I bought. One didn't have a spring in it, so I used the spring from the one I destroyed.

The final score was 5 Snorkels and Touchdowns restored, 2 destroyed! Actually, I have some nice parts for future ones, especially the parts I will damage on future pens.

I think after working on 7 pens, I'm starting to get more comfortable. OldGriz is right, experience makes all the difference in the world. If one wasn't going to restore a whole bunch of these or wasn't especially handy, I don't think it would be worth it to get into Snorkel repairs. If I was working 60 hours a week, I sure would not think this was a good use of my time. The Touchdowns were much easier to repair than the snorkels because they don't have that imbedded section, but you still have the O ring to deal with.

Good luck if you decide to try it.

Ron

OK Ron,
Now here is the part that hurts...
Even after doing a load of Snorkels... you are still going to find one that takes about 2 day (it feels that way) to get the O ring in place
Or the section is just going to refuse to come out even if you take a sledge hammer to it...
Or....
Or....
Or......
Ain't restoring pens fun
:doh: :doh: :doh:

Ah, I thought it was supposed to be easy! Now you tell me!

Ron

When replacing the O ring in the barrel of a snorkel or touchdown use a sharpened pencil up from the section end of the barrel, to keep the O ring from sliding past the groove. It takes a bit of practice to get the taper of the pencil in the right location, but once it is there, you can push the O ring in with a dental pick, carefully. With the pencil in place you don't have to worry about the O ring going past the groove and getting sideways in the barrel.

Next time I do one, I will try and take a picture.

Cheers, and good luck
SG

Thanks for the tip, SG!

Ron

Removing the barrel O ring is easy using a sturdy sharp needle.
Pushing the needle "gently" in the O ring one can lift the O ring out of the groove & remove it. Note one has to "restrict" the force & penetration depth strictly to penetrate the Oring only. Applying to much force and penetration stroke one risks otherwise to go through the barrel wall! ( which I've experienced unfortunately on one barrel!)
Reinstalling a new Oring is indeed rather difficult & can be frustrating.
To facilitate the installation I've made me a aluminum plug which just fits the barrel bore from the section side. This plug has a collar - contacting on the section side barrel end - which restricts the plug's introduction depth just flush with the O ring groove, providing a flat "back-up" surface for the Oring. The plug collar is vertically clamped in a work-bench vise & the barrel is installed over the plug. Now one can install a new Oring whitout the risk the Oring slides to deep in the barrel.
This actually works pretty good for me!

I agree with Francis: the best tool for getting an o-ring out is a needle. In my case I use a heavy pin with a 45 degree bend about 1/4 inch from the sharp end. Even those tough original white rings can be carefully pried out when you stick the pin into them. If necessary, (soapy mouth) the ring enough to break it and pry up one end.

For some reason, I've never had trouble getting o-rings in. First, take a wooden toothpick and break off one end to be blunt (sand it if need be). To aid explanation, let me refer to sections of the o-ring with these labels:

...A

B......C

...D


I pinch the new ring in the middle about halfway and insert end A in the groove by the vacuum escape hole in the barrel. I put it there because it gives me a reference point in the barrel. All you need to do is get it near. Then with the blunt end of the toothpick make sure that one end is in the groove. Now work your way around the hole to both B and C pushing the o-ring in the groove. It will be 1/2 in the groove with end D sitting up out of the groove. Now push end D in the groove right in the middle. You may have a little loop between D-C or D-B out, but you just gently push them in. This really takes far longer to describe than to do.

Ron, keep that snorkel tube and the black grooved insert (secondary feed) that you broke. It can be fixed (carefully!) with super glue. If even one side of that insert is broken by the slanted tube end, your pen will tend to skip since the ink moves by capilary action up that groove to the slot under the end of the snorkel and through the transverse slits to the feed below. If that grooved secondary feed is broken, it interupts the ink flow. I broke off one tip of that feed on my personal Snorkel cleaning it out too roughly (never more!), but repaired it by building up the tip with thick super glue. It fixed the skipping....

Anyway, Snorkels are really fun to play with!

Steve

Thanks for the further tips, Fountainbel and Steve. These are the little tricks that, for example, my father-in-law (an engineer) and a lot of other people would come up with, but I would not. My mind does not work well that way, and I never really had much experience tinkering with stuff around the house.

I have an old house that I do a lot of work on, but I do what I call the "moron" work (ie the stuff any moron can do, like painting, scraping, landscaping, etc.) Anything complicated, I call in the plumber or electrician. People look at my house and say: "You must be handy to live in a house like that." I reply: "not really", and they are usually surprised.

I just wanted to post my experiences for those like me that don't have an aptitude for stuff like this. I thought it would be helpful to others considering these types of repairs. Putting in a new ink sac is pretty simple, but these snorkels (and I'm sure others like Parker Vacs) are complicated and delicate pens. Unless you are good with your hands, or have a lot of time and patience and are willing to really work at it and ruin a few pens, I don't think it's probably worth it. Just my opinion, of course.

Ron

I tried the pin on the O-rings, and it took me 10 seconds to get it out! A lot easier than struggling with a jewelers screwdriver. Thanks!

Ron